Castor wasn't too fussed about his chariot costume. The stylists had done some shaving and tanning and then put in in a shirt and pants that seemed to be made out of coins, representing the luxury in their district. It could have been worse. It could have been so much worse. Pollux had warned him that he would be humiliated and treated like a dog if he went to the Capitol, but so far, things had been nice.

Nancy was happy with her costume. She looked great in her dress made out of gold and silver coins. The stylists had also fixed her teeth. They gave her some makeup but left her freckles there. They had tamed her hair, too. She didn't look like a warrior at all, in fact she looked like an innocent little girl, but Nancy could deal with this costume.

Octavian observed the tributes from 1 and 4, knowing that they would be his allies in the Games, and therefore the people he needed to worry about bringing down. 1 was unremarkable. The boy looked boring, but had strange purple eyes that he had seen somewhere…the girl had red hair, and there was something about her smile that was slightly unnerving. All in all, Octavian thought that so far, these tribute would prove easy to destroy.

Reyna was annoyed that she and Octavian had been dressed in matching armor with matching purple capes, but the costumes could have been worse. She scanned the tributes behind her to see if there were any people outside of District 4 that she should invite into the alliance.

Annabeth and Leo wore outfits made out of gears that moved around and fit together. Leo hadn't quite recovered from his stunt with the coffee, and his mouth was moving at a mile per minute. His hands, too, were crazily tapping on the chariot edge. Spontaneous combustion seemed like more and more of a threat. Annabeth wondered if she should have brought some form of sedative with her just in case Leo needed it.

"Wow, I wish that Harley could see this!" Leo said loudly. He really did. The gears reminded him of the insides of a car, or the machines back in 3. It was amazing to be wearing them! All clothes should be like this!

"He will," Annabeth reminded him. "Everyone watches the opening ceremonies."

"Oh yeah!"

Percy couldn't help but overhear the conversation that District 3 was having. Who's Harley? He wondered. Was it a friend, perhaps a younger brother? The thought of brothers turned him away from the hyper boy and pretty girl and to thoughts of Tyson, his own younger brother. Percy hoped that Tyson would be proud of him, or at least get a kick out of the mermaid costume that he was wearing. Probably the best thing that he could hope for now was for the audience to think that he and Clarisse were hilarious, since they looked so ridiculous.

Clarisse felt murderous. She had been hoping to look like a warrior or a fighter, not showcased as a laughingstock wearing a mermaid costume! Maybe it would have looked fine on another girl, but not her! It wasn't fair of the stylists to humiliate her like this! No one would sponsor her now!

Jason wondered if anyone in the audience would realize what he was supposed to be. He was dressed in all white, with a spinning windmill top on his head. How many Capitolites would know what a windmill was? Was that taught about here in the Capitol? Everyone back in 5 knew about windmills, but where else was that common knowledge? Probably 3. Jason decided that he would try to get an ally from 3. It would be easiest, since they shared knowledge. It was almost like they were related. Almost.

Solar power is a technique of capturing energy provided by the sun and then converting it into a usable form of electricity. District 5 classroom book, page 457. Ella was dressed as a solar panel. Ella felt like folding in on herself. She was about to go before the entire nation. Was she brave enough? They would all laugh at her! Well, not Jason. Ella likes Jason. Jason is nice. Ella likes cinnamon rolls, too.

The bright lights backstage and the excitement of the day had nearly put Clovis to sleep. Even now, he felt as if he might pass out on the chariot. That would be embarrassing, wouldn't it? To fall out of the chariot on opening night? 13 times 17 is 221. Clovis tried to check the answer on his hand, before remembering that the stylists had refused to let him put the ink on himself.

Rachel carefully tried to catalogue every detail of the moment: the costume she was wearing that had one wing of an airplane on it and would look like a full airplane when she stood next to Clovis, the lights backstage, the way that her hair fell to her mid-back, completely straight, the way her heart was pounding with excitement…she didn't want to miss anything before she died.

Grover was dressed as a lumberjack, plastic axe and everything. He didn't look too bad. The stylists had trimmed his goatee and curly hair, but he looked okay once the changes had been made. Would Juniper still recognize him? Grover hefted the axe over his shoulder, wondering if he would be using a real axe to kill real people in a few days.

Calypso was dressed as a tree. It could have been a lot worse. She wasn't sure what to do to get sponsors, though. How would she wave at them or get them to like her if she looked like a tree? The little girl from 5 or 6 was looking around. She caught Calypso's eye. Calypso smiled at her, trying to make her feel at ease. Suddenly, Calypso became aware of the beautiful girl from 2 staring at her. Calypso looked away.

Ethan ripped off his eyepatch and made a fist around it. Screw what the stylist wanted, talking about how his eye was hideous and all that. These people watched children die every year and placed bets on it! They probably drank blood with every meal! They could afford the sight of his oh-so-disgusting eye! Piper looked at him like she was worried. He intensified his glare at her. Fuck that girl. He hoped that she died as soon as the gong rang out.

Piper tried to observe the people around her. The boy in the chariot ahead, dressed as a lumberjack, looked strong. The boy behind her looked weedy, but he was smiling and talking with his district partner—she had been right, they did know each other. Piper was obviously the best-dressed person in the vicinity. District 8 had the advantage there. Their costumes could be anything with fabric rather than something themed to match the district. Piper was at least blessed in that regard.

Will felt sick. He and Lou were dressed like wheat, but that wasn't his main problem. All of the time that he was spending with Lou just meant that he remembered how amazing she was, and how great it was being her friend. And yet, one of them had to die. Would he be the one that extinguished the flame of Lou's life? Was he a good person or not?

The wheat costumes were boring, in Lou's opinion. If she was in charge, she would have made the sleeves spit flames when she raised her arms. Or she would have had some other cool affect like that. She and Will were never going to get noticed this way. Lou noticed that Will looked worried. Was he thinking about the same thing that she was? She squeezed his hand.

Frank hated his cow costume. It made him feel even more large and bumbling than he already was. He knew that he didn't have the best shape, and while it bothered him, it wasn't a big problem in his mind. Still, this costume made him feel like all of his insecurities were on display for the whole world to see and laugh at. Hazel smiled at him. "Just a little while, and it'll be over."

"We'll be immortalized in everyone's memories."

"Seriously, we should try to get some sponsors for this to stick with the plan."

Hazel was beginning to doubt the soundness of her plan. Without supplies from the Cornucopia, they were on their own. They could live off the land, but they needed a good backup plan. That backup plan was lots of sponsors, but what if they couldn't get sponsors? A lot could go wrong.

Connor wondered how hard it would have been to steal some of the coins off of the District 1 boy's shirt. Not that he needed any money of course, not here, but just to see what would happen. It could be fun! Still, Katie would probably give him another lecture, and that would suck. He still wasn't sure what her big problem with stealing was. Did it make him the best person? No. But in the grand scheme of things, what was the big deal?

Katie felt self-concious dressed as a giant apple. She knew that out of all the girls here, she was probably the ugliest—well, except for the 13-year-old from 5, but she didn't count. Snap out of it, Katie, she told herself. This wasn't about feeling pretty. This was about survival. If she could make it through day in the orchards, then of course she could survive a dumb costume! She had to play smart. Whatever happened, it would be worth it as long as her sister was safe at home. This is for you, Miranda.

Nico didn't want to stand next to Zoe until he absolutely had to, so he stayed crouched in the shadows next to their chariot. He eyed the long line of tributes in front of him. The pair from 10 were talking, looking somber. The girl from 11 looked annoyed. Nico closed his eyes and tried to tune out the noise, imagining that he was having a quiet moment back home.

Zoe was not sure why Nico looked like he was trying to sleep on the ground rather than preparing for the chariot rides like everyone else was. Then again, one could not explain the strangeness of men. Zoe instead focused on her coal miner's outfit. It was relatively covering, something that Zoe was grateful for. People here in the Capitol could be such pigs sometimes…

Suddenly, the doors opened an the announcer's voice came, loud and clear. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the chariot rides!" District 1 rolled out of the door, and the week before the Games started ticking down...